Helping Dreams Fly

Astronauts In Training Tell Area Students About Their Jobs

HAMPTON — The group of 13 -- including three from Japan -- pass the basics of spaceflight on to the pupils.

When Bobby Satcher was 10 years old, he stared out over the water near his home at Hampton University, where his father was a chemistry professor.

Satcher's mind drifted off into the vast expanse as he dreamed about explorers who conquered the oceans.

"Just the whole idea of exploration -- in earlier times the sea was the conduit for exploration," he said. "Now it is space."

Satcher, a bone doctor and nephew of former Surgeon General David Satcher, was among 13 astronauts in training who talked about living out their dreams Thursday at NASA Langley Research Center, the Virginia Air and Space Museum and several area schools.

Satcher spoke to students in the same gym he once played in at Moton Elementary School in Hampton. The 38-year-old shook hands with 10-year-old Erica Butler, a fourth-grader who said she too would like to be a "space person" some day.

"You really have to focus in class," she said. "You have to believe in yourself."

After nine months of training, the newest class of astronauts has learned how to fly a supersonic airplane and has experienced 20-second bouts of weightlessness on a military craft that does stomach-curling climbs and dives. The group includes three astronauts from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Langley is one of the last stops on a tour of NASA's nine field centers.

The astronauts, who range in age from 29 to 43, don't know whether they'll ever make it into space. When they first interviewed with NASA, they thought the space shuttle would keep flying until 2020.

Last year, President Bush said he wanted to phase out the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a new spacecraft to take humans to the moon. The shuttle's replacement may not take off until 2015.

About a third of the nation's 142 astronauts have never flown in space, and there are no guarantees.

The Columbia disaster in February 2003 grounded the shuttle program, disrupting a flight schedule that will resume in May at the earliest.

The training, teamwork and ambassadorship of being an astronaut is fulfilling enough, said Randy Bresnik, a 36-year-old pilot and astronaut.

"Flying in space is actually a small part of what we do," he said.

Even if NASA retires the shuttle before they get into space, Mission Specialist Shannon Walker said, they could fly on the Soyuz, the Russian spacecraft that ferries people and supplies to the International Space Station.

"I think we will all fly eventually, just not necessarily on the shuttle," Walker said.

The astronauts expressed few fears about space travel. The biggest worry for Mission Specialist Chris Cassidy, a 34-year-old Navy SEAL who was stationed in Norfolk, is whether he can retain everything he learns after his training ends next year.

"My fear is that my little brain won't be able to take all the information," he said as several classmates smiled in agreement.

The great unknown is whether Americans will support an ambitious space vision, Bresnik said.

"We're on this great cusp of exploration," he said. "My fear is that people won't grab onto that vision."

The more than 200 students at Moton Elementary School voiced plenty of support Thursday, giving Satcher a standing ovation and cheering at the news that visiting astronauts would join them for lunch.

The astronauts answered questions from students in the CHROME club, whose name stands for Cooperating Hampton Roads Organizations for Minorities in Engineering. The students asked whether the astronauts believe that there is life on other planets and what inspired them to explore other worlds.

"I know you get a lot of messages today," Satcher said. "But if you stay interested in math and science, you may get to do what I'm doing."

Alexis Collins, a 9-year-old fourth-grader, asked the astronauts about their training. Satcher, who moved from the Peninsula when he was in seventh grade, said his eight years in college and graduate school may sound like a long time, but it actually went by in "a blink of an eye."

Alexis said she was eager to pursue her dream of being either a basketball player or an astronaut when she grows up.

"I want to see the stars, all the different planets and what's on them, she said.*

FUTURE EXPLORERS

Two of the 13 astronauts in training who are visiting the Peninsula this week have ties to Virginia:

Mission Specialist Chris Cassidy, a 34-year-old Navy SEAL formerly stationed in Norfolk, has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

DO YOU FIT THE MOLD?

There is no age limit for astronaut candidates, but applicants have to pass a rigorous flight physical. They must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Applicants' blood pressure must be 140/90 when measured in a sitting position.

Pilot candidates have to have 1,000 hours as a command pilot in a high-performance jet aircraft. They must be between 5 feet 4 inches and 6 feet 4 inches tall. Eyesight should be 20/70 or better uncorrected, 20/20 corrected.

Mission specialist candidates must have at least three years of professional experience related to the mission. They must be between 4 feet 101/2 inches and 6 feet 4 inches tall. Eyesight should be 20/200 or better uncorrected, 20/20 corrected.